Better late than never, here’s some of the albums I listened to on Spotify in January.
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Soul Survivor & Momentum 2009 – Not Ashamed (Listen on Spotify)
For the nostalgic amongst us, a live worship album is a great way to remember a conference you have been to. They can also serve as a good source of new songs. But if you weren’t at the conference and you already know all the songs, then these albums have little to offer, especially when the arrangements of the songs differ very little from the “official” versions of the songs. Having said that, the quality of musicianship and recording is high, so there is plenty to enjoy here with some good live versions of songs written by Ben Cantelon, Phil Wickham, and Tim Hughes. It features Hosanna, and How He loves, both tracks that have showed up all over the place in recent years. 2 CDs (or 1 and a half since the second CD only features half a dozen tracks) represents good value, but only if you don’t already have all the songs on other albums. It wasn’t until well into the second disk that I heard my first unfamiliar songs – Great is the Lord and King of Wonders Rating:  |
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Brenton Brown – Adoration (Listen on Spotify)
Somehow the titles on Spotify are completely muddled up on this album except for two tracks. The correct titles are as follows:
It’s well produced, and features a few old favourites All Who are Thirsty and Holy. Whilst there are no killer tracks, he clearly has the knack for writing congregational songs, and I wouldn’t be surprised if songs such as We Need You and Wonderful start doing the rounds of churches. Rating: |
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Casting Crowns – Until the Whole World Hears (Listen on Spotify)
Despite their popularity, I’ve never really got into Casting Crowns. Their latest album come out in November. As usual what they bring to the table is forthright lyrics rather than any musical innovation. The songs include themes of discipleship, witness, and repentance. The album also features several modernisations of hymns. Rating: |
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Newday 2009 – No Shout too Loud (Listen on Spotify)
This is (with the exception of a repackaged mid 90s Stoneleigh album King of Love), the first newfrontiers live worship album to feature on Spotify. Newday is a youth event and worship was led by Phatfish and Simon Brading, with Matt Redman making a guest appearance. Phatfish introduced a number of songs from their new In Jesus album, but I can’t say I’m overly keen on the blues direction they seem to be going in. Simon Brading also introduced some new songs, the best of them being The Third Day. Matt Redman’s new You Alone Can Rescue is the album highlight for me. Rating: |